Thursday, February 12, 2009

All Stars and More

As I sit on the plane headed to Vegas for Glassweek and BEC it dawns on me that this event is more like an All Star game then an industry gathering. When I review the attendance list and I see some of the names I am simply blown away that the talent in the room is the best there is. Looking at the names you have your industry “Superstars” (as I called them back a few years back) like Julie Schimmelpenningh, Greg Carney, Mike Gainey, Christine Shaffer and Scott Surma. Then you have the folks that kick butt day in and day out like Jay Phillips, Garret Henson, Tom Culp, Kris Vockler, Matt Sampsel, Chris McMahon and so on. Plus you have the best glazing contractors in the country represented. People like Walters & Wolf, Trainor. Harmon, Ajay, Chicago Heights, United Glass and Panel, DM Products, Admiral, CGI and the list goes on and on and on. And while we’re at it, no meeting would be complete without the Haber’s and W&W. In addition there’s the people and companies I’ve never met that I am hoping to say hi to like the folks from APG, Glass Systems, and Cheviot. And finally to top it off you get the rock star quotient covered too with the appearance and speech by Guardian’s Russ Ebeid. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I could go on and on. Heck I may even ask for autographs this year! (That is of course from the people who DON’T have restraining orders against me….which at this point are most of the people listed above.)

Elsewhere…

-- Obviously the tone at Glassweek and BEC should be pretty interesting. Is it as bad in our industry as it seems it is in the “real world”? Should make for some fun discussions between customers and suppliers.

-- The technical schedules of course are full and that’s where the serious work gets done. This is what makes Glassweek great and GANA unique.

-- Oh and the Walker Glass guys will be here and the joy in that is seeing their outfits. No one, and I mean no one can do fashion like Danik, Marc and Rocco. Aside from making some awesome glass, these guys can really dress. Someday I need to go to Montreal and go shopping with them- it would be like “Extreme Makeover” glass edition.

-- The latest issue of USGlass has another tremendous Deb Levy interview this time with Leon Silverstein. Deb has really taken these interviews to a tremendous level and each one is better than the last. I can’t wait to see who she has lined up next.

-- And in that interview, Leon made a comment on the NFRC and I believe that many people will get a huge kick out of it. Basically the comment was that Arch as a company would have no issues with the NFRC or their plans but we know it’s bad for our customers and the industry. That’s been the fight all along. I have always said that I welcome a full system calculation plan but the NFRC attempt lacks so much logic it’s painful and really that’s why I believe it will be DOA. The current economic crisis will only accelerate the sinking of this ship and I believe in the end all of us who fought will be proven correct.

-- USGNN had an update on the awful and bogus lawsuits that are happening right now with the float guys. And once again I have to clarify that the Perilstein Glass that is listed has nothing to do with me, my brother, sister or family. It sucks that we have the same last name because this whole shenanigan makes me ill actually.

-- Last I’ll try and post more while I am out here to get a flavor for what is happening. Friday is the first ever GANA Energy committee meeting and there’s also a pretty solid panel involved in that too. It should be very interesting. Stanley Yee, (another one of those industry stars) is heading up this committee so I can pretty much guarantee some very good insight to be forthcoming.

Off to the Links!

So I know many of you are breathlessly following the adventures of the “Link Chick”- she is still weighing the offer to do the Cuba thing but she has still found time to send in some of the coolest and interesting links out on the web today. I think the “Link Chick” should take the Cuba gig as this blog gets hits every week from Finland, Germany, Israel, China (yikes), Japan, UAE, and England so I would love to add Cuba to that list!